


The New Girl in Town

by PerfectPurgatory



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Ben falls head over heals, Ben is after a cat named BB-8, F/M, For seemingly no reason, Highschool AU, Hux has middle schoolers working for him, M/M, Snoke is a guidance counselor, direct quotes from movie, mentally ill Kylo, movie parallels, there will be a bridal carry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-10-21
Packaged: 2018-12-21 19:22:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11950968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerfectPurgatory/pseuds/PerfectPurgatory
Summary: Ben Solo is in the process of chasing down a cat named BB-8 when he gets stopped in his tracks by the new girl in town. All he knows about her is that she's new, she's a foster kid, and she's from the deserts of Arizona. He goes on a mission to learn as much about her as possible, and mends a few relationships in the process while breaking some others.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second multi-chapter fic, so stay with me, but thank you so much for picking my fic to read! I hope you enjoy it. It's probably my favorite fic that I've written so far, so I hope you get out of it as much as I got out of writing it.

When Ben opens his eyes, it’s 6:30. He’s been asleep for about thirty minutes, and he thinks he can get another good hour in if he closes his eyes. Unfortunately, when he does open his eyes again, the clock reads 8:06 a.m.

              He blinks. Maybe if he fakes a cold he’ll get out of going to school, but last time he missed Maz’s class, she nearly failed him and sent him back to the 10th grade. He lazily gets up and places his blanket down beside him. Rubbing his face doesn’t do him any good, but he does it anyway. He feels awful. But when did he not? He walks over to his closet and opens the door. In front of him lies an impeccable array of shirts, pants, and shoes. He grabs a pair of pants hanging on the left. Black. As were all his pants. He chose a long-sleeved striped shirt that was a size too big for him and pulled it over his head. Walking back to his bed, he folded the sheets and pulled the covers back over his pillows. His room was one of the only things in Ben’s life that he could actually control, and he was going to make sure it was spotless.

              Picking up his backpack from the hook on the back of his door, he walked downstairs. He thought that if he snuck past C3PO he could make it without-

              “Ben?”

              Shit. He flinched at the sound of C3PO barking. He was an old dog, maybe 15, but he still had spirit in him. Ben had named him when he was young, maybe four years old. He had been super into robots back then and wanted to name his dog something robot-ish.

              Ben quickly bolts out the door so he doesn’t have to face his mother. He thinks she means well most of the time, but she just doesn’t take the time to really get to know him. When Ben was little, maybe four years old, he was obsessed with robots. His mother, however loving she was, couldn’t, or wouldn’t, indulge him with his games. When Ben had an infatuation with planes at the age of 6, his mom never took time to learn all the names of the planes and what each of them did and how they moved. When Ben was 10, his interests changed from planes to cars and auto mechanics. That was short lived and it soon changed to planes again, and so on. Now his obsession was astronomy, but his mother didn’t even know that about him.

              His mother, Leia, was involved in the city government. She was on the board of everything, it seems. And it wasn’t that she didn’t want to play with Ben, or learn what Ben had learned, it was more so that she was too tired to do anything else but work. She devoted all her time to work, and none to her son. He had a nanny up until the age of thirteen. He understood perfectly why his mom was the way she was and he even could respect her a little for all the hard work she put into her job. But that didn’t erase all the resentment and emotional damage it caused over his seventeen years.

              As he walked to the bus stop, he looked back at his house. Picture perfect lawn, picture perfect house, picture perfect everything. If only everyone knew how flawed his family was.

              “Figured out how we’re going to get that cat, Ren?” Hux walks in an impossibly upright position beside Ben, using his nickname. He likes to sneak up on people. Ben must admit, that’s a pastime of his too. He likes to know that he can dip in and out of groups of people without anyone noticing. No one ever paid attention to him anyway. No one except Mr. Snoke, the guidance counselor.

              “No, I haven’t. Do you have any ideas?” Ben didn’t like it when Hux talked down to him. He thought he was better than him just because his family was a tad richer. But Ben knew that behind those walls, it was just as screwed up as his family. Maybe even more so. Hux’s dad didn’t like him very much.

              “As a matter of fact, I have a few people on it right now,” Hux said. “The cat has already slipped through our fingers once, but I am confident that they will retrieve it in a timely manner.” He was the most pretentious person Ben knew. Always going on about his lackeys, as if they were something special. Ben knew that he could do a thousand times better than whatever Hux’s maggots were doing, but he hardly told Hux that. He let him have his fun, have his little pet projects. He was devious and needed some sort of outlet for it. He had found it in a couple of middle schoolers that have older siblings who go to their High school.

              “How capable are your men, Hux?” Ben quickly turned on him, and he started to walk backwards in front of him while pointing at his chest. His figure was positively looming over Hux, blotting out the sun.

              “They’re exceptionally trained. I have the utmost faith in them.” Hux tried to look like he wasn’t being threatened at all, and he was doing a fairly good job at it.

              “I want that tag. See to it that they get it. It’d be in your best interest if they did.” Ben was persistently tired of whatever trick Hux had up his tiny sleeves. He was a smaller boy than Ben, and he could easily out-do him at any number of things.

              He knew there was a chance that his boys could get the tag, but he also knew that there was an equal, if not greater, chance that they couldn’t. The tag was going to be his, whether he had to get it himself or not.

              Ben and Hux got on the bus. They traveled to the back where they sat down next to a silver-haired girl named Phasma.

              “What’s up, losers?” She was the third ranking in the group, but Ben knew that if she tried hard enough, she could at least lord over Hux. But she never showed an interesting in being the head of something. She was satisfied being the support of the group.

              “Morning, Phas.” Ben had always liked her. She had a wit about her, and she knew when to back down and when to ramp up.

              “You guys figure out how to get that cat’s tag yet? It’s been a few days now.” Phasma was staring at Ben, and, in return, Ben glared at Hux.

              “We’re working on it.” Hux didn’t even look up from his laptop. He was always on it, always busy with something.

              The ride to school was fairly quiet in the back, but the front was always noisy. It annoyed Ben to no end. He had never been a popular kid. When he was little, he was always into weird shit, so no one would ever play with him. He was always trying to get into social groups, and they would always reject him. It finally got to the point where he stopped trying. It was a good lesson to learn so young. It’s saved Ben from a lot of heartache. He had had one friend as a kid. One friend who stuck with him through everything. But that seemed like so long ago.

              Getting off the bus, Ben gripped his backpack. He hated being in crowds. He just wanted to get to his next class. He knew if he stuck around Phasma, she’d talk him into skipping class, so he ducked away before she got the chance. Hux always played by the rules. He was uptight and strict. Phasma? Not so much. She liked to defy authority. And Ben? He was in a healthy middle ground.  He mostly just liked to stay under the radar. He didn’t want attention. Not from the general crowd, anyway.

              “Well, well. Look who showed up this time.” Maz was a history teacher, and she had been at the school forever. No one exactly knew how old she was. Some said she was easily in her 80’s, but the woman looked like she was in her 40’s, at the latest. Ben didn’t buy it.

              “Hey, Ms. Maz.” Ben liked Maz. He really did. But he wished she didn’t care so much. She was always trying to look after him, making sure he was in class, making sure he didn’t fail his classes. Ben cared about school, he knew it was important. He just found it exceedingly difficult to make himself do his homework or study. He had too many other things going on in his life.

              “Take your seat, Mr. Solo,” Maz said. She was a short lady, but she still had a way of instilling fear into her students. She stood at the front of the class, with her measuring stick, prepared for when the bell rang.

              The lesson was a little boring. It was something they had all heard before in previous history classes, but they had to listen anyway. Ben zoned out halfway through. He was trying his hardest not to fall asleep. He never got enough of it, it seemed. If he slept for two hours, he was exhausted. If he slept for ten hours, he was exhausted. He couldn’t win, and he was notorious for sleeping in class.

              He somehow made it through without sleeping, but he also hadn’t retained any of Maz’s lecture. He hoped none of it would be on the test, but he knew it would be.

              Second period Literature went about the same way. They were learning to write poetry, a subject in which Ben was not talented in. He couldn’t express feelings well and had a hard time articulating any of his thoughts.

              In the hallways, everyone tended to stay out of his way. He knew why, but he never minded it. It allowed for a buffer between him and the masses. It was easier to stay out of trouble this way.

              “Freak!” Someone bumped into Ben. At a quick glance, it was one of the jocks from the football team. Ben clenched his fists and kept walking. There was no reason to get angry today. He was finally going to have that cat’s tag and he could go home and play video games. That was his routine and he stuck with it. It was better than being cooped up in a cell in the local hospital. All he needed to do was to keep to himself and not lash out. That was easy enough, right?

              Another jock. Another yelling of “freak!” Then two more, the last one knocking his books clean out of his hands. Ben’s jaw was locked. His blood was running hot and he could hear a faint ringing in his ears. He turned around to see who it was that knocked into him when he saw him.

              Poe Dameron was talking to the team, berating them, it looked like. They were at the other end of the hallway, and the crowd was noisy, but Ben could just barely make out, “You know better!” And that’s when Poe looked up. They made eye contact that seemed like it lasted forever, but was, in reality, only a couple of seconds. Poe wrapped up his speech and started walking to class, in the opposite direction of Ben.

              Ben sighed and picked up his books, all his anger washed straight through him. He had no desire to make a scene. Not in front of Poe. He walked to class, where he promptly fell asleep. He awoke to a tapping sound on his desk and a very angry math teacher.

              “Principal. _Now_ ,” was all he said. This would be Ben’s fourth trip to the Principal’s office this year, and it was only November. He got up, slung his backpack across his shoulders and marched out.

              When he got to Principal Tekka’s office, he waited. He liked making his students wait. When it was finally time to go into his office, Ben was in a foul mood.

              “What brings you to my office this time, Mr. Solo?” His hands were folded on top of his desk and he genuinely looked interested. It made Ben even more upset.

              “I fell asleep in class.” Ben’s arms were crossed and he was slouched in the chair.

              “Again? Ben, are you not getting enough sleep at home?” It was a solid question to ask. And the answer to it was no, but Ben wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. When he didn’t answer, Principal Tekka sighed and looked down. “Look, I know where you come from, Ben. I’m friends with your mother, you know that. But this cannot keep happening! I can’t keep this up. At some point, I’m going to have to suspend you.”

              Ben wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

              “Ben, is there something we need to discuss? Is everything… okay? You know,” he hinted. “Mentally?”

              That was it. Ben was tired of people holding that over his head. “No, Mr. Tekka. I’m fine.”

              “Alright. Well, whatever this ‘gang’ of yours is up to? I don’t want you taking any part in it.” Ben looked up at Mr. Tekka.            “That’s right. I know about your little group. And your new nickname, it seems like. Kylo Ren? We’ve known for a while.” Mr. Tekka sighed. “They’re no good for you, Ben. All I’m asking is that you’re careful when choosing who your friends are.”

              Ben nodded. That was all he could do.

              “Now get out of here.” Mr. Tekka playfully pointed to the door. “I want you to see Mr. Snoke tomorrow morning. I think it’ll do you some good.”

              “Alright.” Ben would say anything to get out of there. Sometimes he fantasized about punching Principal Tekka right in the face. He was always holding his episodes against him. And what did he know about Hux and Phasma? They weren’t the best company, and he wouldn’t really consider them _friends_ , but they were a part of his life now. He couldn’t just shirk them away.

              Ben got back to class and spent the rest of the day in a haze. He just wanted to go home.

              At the end of the day, the bell rang, giving him the permission he needed to go and meet up with Hux and Phasma. Instead of meeting them by the buses, however, he was greeted by one of Hux’s boys. He figured that meant that there was news on the cat.

              “Sir, we couldn’t get the cat’s tag.” The boy looked nervous, and he had a right to be. “Finn kept us from getting near it.”      

              Ben was furious. What was Finn doing protecting that cat? He isn’t even in ROTC. He has no stake in this. This is between him and the cat.

              “Anything else?” The boy became even more nervous. There was something he wasn’t telling him. “Spit it out.”

              “Finn was with a girl.” He braced for impact, but it never came. Ben motioned with his head for the boy to leave and he did, leaving Ben there waiting for Hux and Phasma. Only, he didn’t wait. He got onto the bus immediately and went to go sit down, finding that they were already there.

              “We wondered when you’d show up,” Phasma said. Hux wasn’t even acknowledging Ben, never looking up from his computer.

              “There’s a girl.” Ben was still standing in the isle.

              Hux and Phasma exchanged a look and Hux promptly went back to his laptop. “We know,” they said in unison.

              “When did you find out?” Ben said. Hux closed his laptop and looked up at Ben, folding his hands on top of it.

              “Apparently right before you did.” Hux was looking up at him in a smug manner and Ben didn’t like it. He’d really like to wipe the slight smile right from his face, but he couldn’t. His parents were powerful and he didn’t want to deal with that. “Don’t worry, I’ll have a profile for you by morning. Now please, sit down.”

              Ben did as he was told. They sat the rest of the ride in silence. Once they got to their bus stop, they got out and went separate ways.

              Walking up to his driveway, he could see his dad’s truck. He was home, then. _That should make for a great family dinner,_ Ben thought. As he got closer to the door, he could hear indiscriminate yelling. It stopped the moment he walked inside. He could only guess what they were arguing about. It was probably about him.

              “Hey, kiddo!” His dad smiled as if he hadn’t seen his son in a couple of months. Which, in reality, is what was happening. He was an ex-military pilot, but he was always being sucked up into something with his buddies. They swear they’re retired, but they still fly whenever and wherever they, or the government, wants to. “How was school?”

              “School was fine.” Ben turned to go to his room. He appreciated the effort most of the time, but it just didn’t work. His dad couldn’t relate to him at all. They used to bond over planes, but now? Ben hardly ever saw him, or his mother for that matter. Ever since he had sent Ben off to his uncle’s military boot camp for middle schoolers, his father had acted weird around him. It was like he didn’t trust him. It was almost like he was tiptoeing around him, like he’d freak out on him. They didn’t understand their son enough to know what was going on with him, and his father, especially, seemed afraid of him.

              “I’m going down to work. They need me to approve some things. Don’t burn down the house while I’m gone.” She gave a small, curt smile to both him and his father, and out the door she went.

              His mother understood more than his dad did. She at least had spent enough time with him and around him to know slightly more than his dad did about what was happening, she just didn’t know how to handle it. She thought that the boot camp would cure everything. After all, they had thought all his problems were behavioral and not mental. They thought they could cure him by giving him a dose of good ol’ fashioned military discipline. In reality, it only made things worse.

              His dad called after him one last time before he was able to shut the door to his room. Again, his father tried, but he just fell flat. There is no light in his eyes when he sees Ben, only confusion.

              He settled into his bed and thought about the day. It was obvious he was going to have to retrieve the cat’s tag himself, but what he was more interested in was this mysterious girl. Ben knew everyone at that school. How had he not noticed someone new? And what did she have to do with Finn?

              Poe had vouched for him, reprimanded his team for pushing him. That was certainly new. A few months ago, he probably wouldn’t have dreamed about doing that, but now? Was there a way to salvage what they had?

              All of these questions swirled around in Ben’s head. He didn’t know what to think, of the girl or of Poe or of the cat. All he knew is that Hux was going to have a profile for him in the morning and he would hunt down this mystery girl. Morning couldn’t come soon enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been so long since I updated this, I'm so sorry. I'm trying to write a third chapter to this, but I just keep getting snagged. Maybe one day I'll finish it, but for now, enjoy chapter 2!

Rey got up and got ready for school. She was running a little early, but she liked to be early. It left room for problems to be solved and it made her feel good. She was always worried about being late to something. She didn’t like to be late. But she was running early, and she was happy.

              School didn’t start for another 45 minutes, but she was going to head to school anyway. She didn’t want to take the bus with everyone else, so she would walk. Another reason to get an early start.

              She grabbed her backpack and walked down the hall, trying not to alert her foster parents. They were nice ones this time, and she genuinely liked them, but she was just biding her time until she timed out of the system and she could be on her own. It was easier that way. There was no bouncing around from home to home, no new parents to meet, no awkward conversations. It would just be her, and she was all she needed.

              Her foster mom was cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Rey could smell it. But she didn’t want to waste her time on food, so she headed out the door.

              It was a peaceful morning. The birds were chirping and there were flowers in bloom. She liked this town. It was small, quaint. And it was brightly colored with people and with scenery. As she walked to school, she reflected on the past week. It had been her first week here, and she had thought that it would have been hard to start in the middle of a semester, but she was adjusting well. She didn’t really care about making friends, and that had made it easier.

              When she got to school, she sat outside in the courtyard, waiting for the first bell to ring. She looked around and she could see several groups of people. There were a few jocks in the corner of the courtyard, a few of the math geeks in the middle, and a couple of goth chicks in the shadows. It was a pretty standard crowd. She had been to several schools, but this one was probably the most stereotypical. She didn’t mind it, though. The school had character.

              The first bell rang and she went inside. Her first class was math, so that’s where she headed. It was easy, in her opinion. She was good at math and it wasn’t hard to pick up on where the class was. A couple of people in the class had already asked her to tutor them, but she declined. She wasn’t here to make friends.

              On her way to second period, she bumped into – well , more like _ran_ into – someone holding a cat. He was slightly taller than her, had a dark complexion, and huge hands. As soon as she ran into him, he grabbed her hand and told her to run.

              “Stop holding my hand!” Rey yelled. She was being dragged against her will and she had no idea as to where they were headed. She managed to yank her hand out of his, but she kept running with him. They pushed past a crowd of people in the hallway and made their way through the crowd. This guy kept looking behind them, but whenever Rey looked, she couldn’t see anyone chasing them. “Where are we going?”

              “Just keep running.” They ran until they hit the cafeteria. “Hide behind the garbage cans.”

              “What? No!” said Rey.

              “It’s our only chance!” This guy seemed serious. Rey decided she should just follow his lead.

              “Alright, fine. The garbage will do.” He grabbed her hand again and pulled her behind a set of two huge garbage cans. “Stop holding my hand.” She yanked her hand away again and spit it through clenched teeth.

              Shortly after they had settled down behind the trash cans, two middle school-aged boys ran through the cafeteria and exited out the other door.

              “Who was that?” Rey had never seen those boys in her life, but she also just moved in, so that wasn’t saying very much.

              “Hux’s troops.” The tall, dark, and mysterious man stood up and offered a hand to help Rey up, too, but she refused it.

              “And why were they after you?” It still didn’t make sense why he was standing there with a calico cat in his arms.

              “Oh, right. They were looking for BB-8 here.” He motioned to the cat.

              “And why do they want,” she wasn’t sure she had the name right, “BB-8?”

              “I don’t know. Someone told me they want him for his collar, but I have no idea why they would want that.” He shrugged. “Come on. I’ll walk you to your next class. Where are you headed?”

              “Room 127? I think it’s the Junior Reserve–” He cut her off.

              “Officer Training Corps? I know right where that is! It’s actually where I was heading next.”

              “What’s your name?” She said. As they started towards the door, the bell rang.

              “Finn. What’s yours?” He looked at her with a genuine curiosity and something else she couldn’t quite place.             

              “I’m Rey.” And she gave him as genuine of a smile as she could muster. “So, are you in JROTC?”

              “Me?” He paused and looked at her funny. “Of course! Of course I am. I’m in JROTC. I am in JROTC.”

              “I’ve never met someone in the military before.” She was a little starstruck.         

              “Well, this is what some of us look like. Others look different.” Rey had to chuckle at that.

              When they got to the JROTC room, there were several people in there, but no teacher. All of them except for one of them, excluding Finn, was wearing a uniform. The one not wearing a uniform stood up and walked over to where they were standing with a huge smile on his face. Finn dropped the cat and it immediately ran for the man standing.

              “BB-8, my buddy!” He pet the cat and then stood up and practically jogged over to Finn. He gave him a huge hug and then handed him his jacket. It looked like a letterman for football. “You did it, Finn! I knew we could count on you.”

              As soon as Finn put the jacket on, he turned to Rey and cleared his throat. “This is Rey. She’s a new JROTC recruit.”

              “Is that so?” The new guy looked her up and down with a semi-intimidating look. “The name’s Poe. Poe Dameron.”

              “I’m Rey.” He had a huge smile plastered on his face and it was a warm one. Rey couldn’t not return that with a smile of her own.

              “So, are you in this class, or were you just following my,” he said as he exchanged a strange look with Finn. “ _Friend_ around?”

              “I’m actually in this class, I think. 127, right?” Suddenly, Rey wasn’t so sure she had the right room. I mean, there was no teacher and only a handful of students. Maybe this was some spare room that people used to skip class.

              “Yeah, you’re in the right place. Let me see your schedule.” Poe looked over her schedule and smiled. “You have fifth period with Finn here. Maz. Gotta love her.”

              “Is Maz a good teacher?” Rey said.

              “Oh, she’s the best. She’s kind, but knows how to kick your ass if you get out of line.” He winked at Finn and Finn looked a little flustered. Rey wondered what that was all about.

              “Do I have any other classes with you both?” They seemed genuine, and Rey liked that.

              “No, not that I’m seeing. Which is okay, because you get both of us for one class period.” He looked up from the schedule and looked at Finn. “Where even are you this period?”

              “I have office duty. Which I’m late for. Again. But I had a good cause this time!” Finn motioned to BB-8.

              “Yeah, yeah, alright. You did, didn’t you?” Poe put his hand on Finn’s shoulder and they shared another strange look. Rey didn’t know what was going on with them, but she didn’t want to ask, either. “Alright, get to your office duty. I’ll teach our new friend here the ropes.”

              “Alright. Go easy on her, Poe.” Finn looked serious.

              “You know I will. Now go.” He moved his hands in a motion suggesting that Finn should leave, and he turned to leave but then turned back around to stare at Poe for another second. After that, he headed out the door. “So, new recruit. Tell me about yourself.” He took a serious stance as he asked her to tell him about herself and she was a little startled.

              “Um, okay, well, I just moved here. I love cats,” she said as she gave BB-8 a slight smile and a wave. “And I also love school, so I’m a little concerned about there not being a teacher in here.” She looked around as if she must have overlooked him or her.

              “Alright, that’s a start. I, too, love cats, but I’ve been here my entire life. Oh, and the teacher? Mr. Smith? Yeah, he comes in here sometimes, but he mostly goes to flirt with the school secretary. It’s more of a self-taught, self-disciplined class. And I’m sort of the leader.” He puffed his chest out a little bit but not enough to look too arrogant.

              “Oh, the leader, huh?” Rey feigned surprise and reverence.

              “Yeah. You could say I come from a very strict military family with years of combat experience. Probably the most famous in this town, actually.” He took on a more solemn tone. “But, my mother died when I was younger, and it’s just been me and dad. He’s retired, of course, but he still misses serving, so he kind of vicariously lives through me.”        

              “Wow. I’m so sorry, Poe.” She put her hand on his shoulder but he looked up and he was back to his jubilant self.

              “It’s okay. It was a long time ago, and me and dad have done well for ourselves.” He nodded as if to confirm it with himself.

              “Who are they?” The question looked like it surprised Poe, but he just as quickly regained his composure.

              “Oh, my parents? Shara Bey and Kes Dameron. Best damn fighter pilots this side of Colorado.” He had a faraway look on his face. It seemed like he respected his parents very much.

              “Well, I’m glad you and your dad are getting along so great.” There was something in her voice that made Poe’s ears perk up.

              “Do you and your dad not have a good relationship?” There was that serious tone again.

              “You could say we don’t have a relationship at all.” She kind of chuckled to herself before realizing how lost Poe was. “Oh, I’m a foster kid.” She nodded and rocked back and forth on her heels.

              “Oh.” He looked like he was scrambling for something to say, so Rey gave him an out.

              “It’s okay, you don’t have to respond to that. I usually get all sorts of awkward questions when I tell people, so I haven’t really told anybody here yet. Except you. Just now.”  He smiled unusually large.

              “Alright, then.”

              The rest of the period was filled with stories on both sides, being told about their parents, or their adventures with a lack of parents.

              “You know, you and Finn have that in common.” He sat a little further back in his seat.

              “Have what in common?” She had no idea what he was talking about.

              “You’re both fosters.” She lit up.

              “Really?”

              “Well, ex-foster. Finn got adopted when he was about 12, I think.”

              There was a lull in the conversation and she knew she had to ask now. They had run into a conversation involving Finn and they had just been bonding. This was a now-or-never situation.

              “So,” she paused. “What’s up with you and Finn?”

              It seemed like Poe pretended not to hear her. “What? Me and Finn?”

              “Yeah. You guys were giving each other pretty weird stares back there.” She quickly amended her question. “But you don’t have to tell me at all, no. I’m okay being in the dark.”

              Poe sighed. “It’s complicated.” He seemed like he deflated. “Me and finn,” he said while he shook his head. “We don’t really know what we are to one another. I sort of had a bad break-up last year. Lots of tears shed over someone I probably shouldn’t have been with anyway.” His serious face was back. “I met Finn shortly after, and we’ve been,” He moved his hands in a circular fashion. “Together, but we aren’t together. At least, I don’t think we are. I mean, we’ve kissed a couple times, but we haven’t really talked about it. Finn isn’t out to his parents, and I don’t want to pressure him, I just-” Rey cut him off.

              “You should tell him how you feel.” She gave him as warm a smile as she could. “If you really care for him, I think you should go for it. I have a feeling he has certain feelings for you too.”

              “You really think so?” Poe looked lost.

              “Yeah, I do.”

              And just then, the bell rang. It was time for third period.

              “Alright, well, it’s time to get you to your next class. What do you have?” He picked up her schedule again and scanned it. “Grant. Room 235. I know right where that is. Come on!” He stood up suddenly and gave her another one of his signature smiles.

              “Alright, then!”

              They walked a ways down the hallway when Poe suddenly grabbed her arm and slowly pulled her in the opposite direction.

              “Hey, why’d we turn around?”

              “Um, it’s a long story. Some of which we’ve already discussed.” He was walking her towards the back door to walk around the back of the school, but he was looking over his shoulder.

              “What?” She was really confused.

              “My ex. Now move!” He turned his head back around and practically threw the door open.

              “Oh.” She got a small glance of a boy with long, black hair, but she only saw the back of his head. There were no defining features besides his large, striped sweater. “It was really bad, wasn’t it?” She said as delicately as possible.

              “You could say that.” He kept looking over his shoulder as they walked to the other entrance to the school. “Here’s your classroom, anyway.” As they stepped into the hallway, 235 was staring them in the face.”      

              “Alright, Poe. Thanks for the lovely conversation and walk to my class.” She gave him an informal bow.

              “It’s my pleasure. Rey.” He picked up her hand and kissed it. Rey couldn’t help but blush a little. He certainly was charming.

              Poe started walking down the hallway and left Rey to walk into her next class. It went as well as she expected. It was English, so it was a little bit hard for her. She had a rough start in school, as her biological parents never really enrolled her. She had minimal knowledge of how to write until she was 10. Still, it was hard for her in English classes. Math, she excelled in. She always understood it. But English? No way.

              Fourth period was a breeze. It was science. Fifth period, she got to be with Finn again. They sat next to each other and had a minimal conversation before Maz stepped in. She was a shorter lady, with an orange-ish complexion, as if she had tanned one too many times. She was wearing a little hat, but other than that, her clothes were pretty plain. And she had these large glasses on. They were almost distracting.

              Ms. Maz taught the class with little to no interruptions. Rey really could get behind her. There was definitely a curve to getting warmed up to her, but once you got past her berating voice and her authority she held in her stance, she was really charming. After the class, Finn and Rey headed to lunch.

              In lunch, they found a spot that was relatively secluded and they sat and talked. Mostly about their terrible experiences with foster parents. For every bad story Finn had, Rey had an even worse one.

              “My last one, Unkar, he was horrible. I don’t even know how they let him be a foster parent. He had a tiny house, and he would let me sleep, but only on the tiny chair in the living room. He used my real room for storing junk. All kinds of junk. I have no idea what he used it for.” Finn was captivated. “Anyway, he hit me and I reported it to my case worker. They immediately yanked me out of his house and into my new one.”

              “Wow. That’s horrible. I had some bad ones, but no one ever hit me.” He shook his head.

              The conversation got to a topic involving Poe. Rey decided she would have to get Finn’s side of things, so she asked.

              “So, are you and Poe a thing?” He looked puzzled.

              “What? A thing?”

              “Yeah. Boyfriends, or just friends…” She let herself trail off.

              “No, no.” He shook his head again. “Why, did he say anything?” Suddenly, he was talking fast and he leaned in closer to look more interested in the conversation.

              Rey laughed. “No, but you just told me a lot by that response.” Finn put his head in his hands. “Why don’t you talk to him?”

              “It’s complicated,” Finn said, unknowingly mirroring what Poe had said earlier. “Poe had a bad break-up right before we met and I sometimes think he’s not completely over it. But then there are times when he seems like he’s totally fine, and I just don’t know-” Rey cut him off.

              “You guys should communicate more. Maybe something could come of it.” She bit off the top of a cut mini carrot.

              “Yeah, we probably should.” He put his head in his hands again, then promptly took it out to use his hands in conversation. “But it’s just so hard. When is the right time? What’s the right thing to say? You know? I just don’t know how to make those decisions, and any time it would be a good time to talk, something always pops up.”

              “Just talk to him. Find a time outside of school to talk. It’ll be a lot better than if it were at school.” She looked at him with as much understanding as she could.

              “I’m afraid to hang out with him after school most of the time because I’m not out to my parents.” Finn looked down.

              “That’s all the more reason to hang out with him outside of school! You can get away with having him over to spend the night, or going over to his place to spend the night. Your parents won’t know.” He looked mortified at the thought. “Or not. But you still should see him outside of school more often, at the least. You can’t expect anything to grow unless you see each other outside of an over-crowded school environment.”

              “You’re right.”

              The rest of the conversation was about BB-8 and how attached to him Poe is. The rest of the day went alright. She didn’t see any more of the mysterious ex with the long, black hair, but she got to see Finn and Poe after school briefly. They exchanged a quick and awkward scramble to figure out a place to go hang out. Both wanted to talk to the other, but the other had no idea about the other one’s intentions.

              Rey left them to figure things out and headed home. She was looking forward to sitting in her own room and listening to some music. The next day could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! It was really fun to write.  
> Comment or drop me a kudos if you liked it. I like talking to you guys.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Look out for the next episode - it involves Rey's perspective on the same day! Any and all comments are appreciated, even if it's to tell me what you didn't like about it. I hope you stick around! Exciting things are coming.


End file.
